Rumorang: The 'final' Smash Bros. Brawl roster

by Kyle Orland { Jan 25th 2008 at 12:34PM }

Rumors of the final Smash Bros. roster (past the 25 officially announced characters) are nothing new, but with the game's Japanese release nearing, such rumors seem to be reaching a fever pitch. The latest fuel for the fire is the above picture, which purports to show a final roster of 44 characters from the Japanese version of the game. The screen has been floated on a number of sites with varying degrees of credulity -- it was even included at the beginning of a very official-looking GameTrailers video introducing moves for three of the confirmed new characters in the game.

So is this the holy grail of Brawl information? As much as we'd like to believe it so, we just can't. For one thing, the background seems to be taken directly from this official image of a much smaller select screen. Everything matches a little too perfectly, from the transparent background image to the floating cursor in the bottom left corner. For another thing, the images many of the "newly revealed" characters are 2D drawings that don't match up well with the 3D renderings for the officially revealed characters. Even for those that are renders, a closely matching source image can usually be found with a quick Google image search, suggesting an overzealous photoshopper.

Still, we'd be more than happy to be wrong on this one and to be able to play with this impressive list of Nintendo favorites come March 9. For those who want to cover their ears and hold out a shred of hope, check out a full list of the supposedly "revealed" characters below the jump.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, whether they believed it or not]

The "newcomers":

Bowser Jr. --- Mario Party series (row 1, column 1)
Midna -- Legend of Zelda series (row 1, column 9)
King K. Rool -- Donkey Kong Country series (Row 2, column 1)
Ridley -- Metroid series (row 2, column 4)
Fusion Samus -- Metroid series (row 2, column 6)
Lucario -- Pokemon series(Row 2, column 9)
Wolf O'Donnell a.k.a. Star Wolf -- Star Fox series(row 3, column 1)
Krystal -- Star Fox series (Row 3, Column 3)
Ashley -- WarioWare series(row 3, column 8)
Micaiah -- Fire Emblem series(row 3, column 10)
Black Bull -- F-Zero series (row 4, column 6)
Masked Man -- Earthbound/Mother series (row 4, column 9)

The "newly revealed" returning characters:

Luigi (row 1, column 3)
Ganondorf (row 1, column 10)
Young Link (row 1, column 11)
Jigglypuff (row 2, column 10)
Mewtwo (row 2, column 11)
Marth (row 3, column 11)
Mr. Game & Watch (row 4, column 2)
Captain Falcon (row 4, column 6)

Tags: characters, fake, image, roster, rumor, rumorang, smash-bros, smash-bros-brawl, SSBB, super-smash-bros-brawl

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Patrick @ Jan 25th 2008 12:37PM

all from gamecube

Neebs @ Jan 25th 2008 12:38PM

Bowser Jr.?

lame.

Neebs @ Jan 25th 2008 12:39PM

also
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/chupelo/gamefaqs2.jpg

T3H WICKERMAN (TMNT DF) (BWF) @ Jan 25th 2008 1:31PM

Koopa Kids from super mario 3 working like ash and his pokemon would have been the tits. Also Racoon mario and feather mario.

x876543 @ Jan 25th 2008 1:49PM

I want to know who let in the douchebag Ice Climbers, They are such asshats. /joke

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 25th 2008 2:59PM

@Neebs:
Hmm... That link you provided may turn out to be right...

Assuming that image isn't doctored at all, it was posted on October 30th, long before some of the things he mentioned were posted on the DOJO or in videos:
1) Kirby Air Ride's Dragoon (Dec. 28)
2) Zelda is Sheik (Jan. 16)
3) Lucario and Ness (that video on wii.com JP posted on Jan 20th)

So, what does it mean? Either his source was reliable, or he's very good at guessing.

Mr.ESC @ Jan 25th 2008 5:45PM

**** U.I wanted Bowser Jr. in this game.

Bowser Jr,Fusion Samus,Young Link,Ridley are good additions, Ashley?

But Where the fuck are Knuckles and Tails you bloody bas**rds?, This is the rooster, bah.

Still good but its lack of Sega characters disturbs me.

NiGHTS would’ve been perfect.

Great Dodongo! @ Jan 26th 2008 3:39AM

Actually, I can confirm that screencap, I read it myself back in October, before the modding. I specifically remember thinking "Well, this is strange... proper grammar AND he's denying that it must a hundred percent true."

On the GameFAQs forums, that's a crazy thing to see... sorta like the four horsemen. :D

Crazylink @ Jan 25th 2008 12:42PM

That's Dark Samus in row 2 column 6, not Fusion.

Nathaniel N. @ Jan 25th 2008 12:44PM

Fusion Samus? Seriously? Me thinks the fine folk(s) here at Joystiq haven't been playing enough Metroid Prime 2 and 3.

Kadrom @ Jan 25th 2008 12:46PM

This can't be real..

http://www.brawlcentral.com/images/news/2008_01_22(2).jpg

This has been confirmed to be the starting roster. Zelda's portrait includes a picture of Sheik. The one up there doesn't.

Aero @ Jan 25th 2008 12:46PM

That's definitely fake. Didn't they already show a previous roster that proved that Zelda's character box had her and Sheik in the square. This is fan-created.

Hugah @ Jan 27th 2008 9:25AM

yes. but when they released that screenshot we didnt KNOW that sheik was an available character as he's only been released recently.

samfish @ Jan 25th 2008 12:47PM

This is fake.

Sad, too, because it would be a good roster.
The one that a lot of people are assuming is the real deal is really kind of crappy. Almost all the hidden characters are veterans.

Kirby4030 @ Jan 25th 2008 8:20PM

real one? link please?

Shmil @ Jan 25th 2008 12:47PM

Celda? give me a break this has to be fake

OvenMitt Ninja @ Jan 25th 2008 2:43PM

You have obviously not played Wind Waker, my friend, it is amazing. Hell, even Famitsu gave it a 40/40. It was cool to complain about it in '02, not it just isn't.

Shmil @ Jan 26th 2008 3:41AM

i never said anything bad about wind waker did i? i just really doubt that if they brought young link back he would be modeled more after this adult link. Seeing how every other character is styled i don't think that celda (it's not necessarily an insult) is a bad character. In fact windwaker is high on my list of favorites.

Devinlee53 @ Jan 26th 2008 6:52PM

but it makes sense, there is no young link in twilight princess, there was no sheik either, but there WAS going to be one till sheik was cut, and WWL or celda as you people like to call him (if you still call him celda then your a doushe, thats an insult name) is a perfect character, he is still used for many games (all of the handheld zeldas since 4 swords on GBA have used WWL)
and he is young! besides people have wanted that as much as wario! The only person i would rather see would be that pirate girl from wind waker who became zelda (i forgot how to spell her name so im saving myself)

Dustin @ Jan 25th 2008 12:48PM

Wow, Midna and the Masked Man? That would be fantastic, but I have to agree that the image is probably a fake.

On the other hand, I have absolutely faith in Nintendo with Brawl... sure, the drip-feed of information has been ridiculous, but also impressive. Imagine if all of the details released up to this point were suddenly released all together around this time. It would be a HUGE feature. Bigger than most of the exclusive features you find in Game Informer, EGM, etc. every month.
So I wouldn't be surprised if the final build really features 40+ characters, and I wouldn't be surprised if that includes most of the characters from this picture.

deaftly @ Jan 25th 2008 12:51PM

ugh why would they put anyone in from the wario ware games

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Jan 25th 2008 1:19PM

Because wario's friends are infinitely cooler than mario's friends.

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 25th 2008 3:02PM

Given the fact that the (one of) the Wario BGMs is Ashley's Theme, having Ashley in the game would actually make sense.

Personally, though, I'd prefer Jimmy T., Mona, or Kat & Ana.

Superstar90 @ Jan 25th 2008 11:05PM

Kat & Ana instead of Ice Climbers for the next game. Ninjas > Eskimos (forever).

vidGuy @ Jan 25th 2008 12:51PM

Very cool but also very fake.

Out of that 'newcomers' list, I'd say only these characters stand a good chance of getting in:
Bowser Jr
King K. Rool
Black Bull

samfish @ Jan 25th 2008 12:58PM

I think Wind Waker Link has a much better chance than Bowser Jr.

Dio @ Jan 26th 2008 5:20PM

Black SHADOW. learn2read

vidGuy @ Jan 27th 2008 2:20PM

I'm not a fan of the FZero series, so I read the list above. "Black Bull -- F-Zero series (row 4, column 6)". So, STFU.

Looks like Black Shadow (the racer) drives the Black Bull vehicle.

Benjamin Breeg @ Jan 25th 2008 12:54PM

Oh shame shame Joystiq, this roster has been floating around for so long, and has been debunked many times.

A lot of characters use official artwork from previous games, like WW Link, K Rool, and Micaiah (who all also appear as 2D animations, rather than being rendered in 3D which the Brawl team does for all characters except Mr G&W).

The best bet is to wait until Famitsu or Nintendo themselves reveal the roster. Or we have actual video of gameplay.

Kevin @ Jan 25th 2008 12:53PM

If by chance this is not fake and Roy is not included I will sell my nintendo wii.

Paviel @ Jan 25th 2008 1:06PM

Sadly, Roy's odds of making it into Brawl seem pretty low. The fact that he was in Melee as a plug for a Fire Emblem game that didn't do very well makes him much more expendable than... say, Marth, who was the main character of the first Fire Emblem game and a sort of figurehead for the series.

Speaking of Marth, that picture of him was taken right from one of the screenshots from Fire Emblem DS, so even though it's preaching to the choir, I call bolshevik...

Oobgarm @ Jan 25th 2008 1:28PM

Hopefully your Wii will end up in appreciative hands, then. Heh.

sheetman @ Jan 25th 2008 9:38PM

I'll buy it from you. ;)

Paviel @ Jan 25th 2008 2:05PM

To be fair, he said he'd sell his Wii if the list was not fake and Roy wasn't in. Roy probably won't be in, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the list is not fake...

GatorSax2010 @ Jan 25th 2008 12:53PM

I'm going to have to agree that this looks fake. The fact that at least Ridley and Young Link (and probably a few others) look to be concept art rather than in-game models gives it away for me. Obviously that doesn't mean they're not in the game, since I hope they both are (especially Ridley). Besides, Dark Samus would probably be an alternate costume for Samus rather than a new character (unless she had an awesome Phazon-based set of moves, I guess).

MarMar @ Jan 25th 2008 12:54PM

No Knuckles? :'-(

heckthor @ Jan 25th 2008 1:20PM

Yeah Knuckles would be so sweet... but if this is true that would be BADASS... Come March, Come...

LOKIOLR @ Jan 25th 2008 12:55PM

If it were real we'd have gameplay footage with these characters instead of a roster screen cap.

Vince @ Jan 25th 2008 1:06PM

fake pic, disregard this. I'm ashamed of you, Joystiq.

Marty @ Jan 25th 2008 1:07PM

Sonic, but no tails? That's like separating Mario and Luigi!

wootman @ Jan 25th 2008 4:05PM

if tails is in brawl, no other character will ever be required for me.
EVER.

BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 25th 2008 6:33PM

Tails is in Brawl, but he's an Assist Trophy. He follows you around, and saves you once if you fall off the stage (kinda like the Marble Garden Zone boss in Sonic 3).

Deuxhero @ Jan 25th 2008 1:10PM

1. Fake
2. he is called Black Shadow, Black Bull is the name of his machine

Deuxhero @ Jan 25th 2008 1:11PM

Also Marths portrit is taken directly from FE11.

Deuxhero @ Jan 25th 2008 1:36PM

Also Michiah is taken directly from her FE10 art. That Picture of Ness is older then my younger siblings, the WW link and TP ganon are clearly taken from Nintendo art art, as are Minda, Bowser Jr. Wolf and Krystal.

And on a personal note, no Isaac

baby sea tuna @ Jan 25th 2008 2:00PM

Wow, and I thought *I* was a huge fucking nerd!

Mr Khan @ Jan 25th 2008 4:34PM

That's what i was about to say, damn you, stealin' mah thunder ;)

All the "unconfirmed" characters in this shot have art that differs from how they actually appear in Brawl. Most notable are the art styles for Cel-link, Marth, and Micaiah (although being so enthralled by Radiant Dawn as i am, Micaiah would make me shit myself)